The Senate on Thursday dismissed the 2017-2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Sustainability Paper sent to it by President Muhammadu Buhari, describing the documents as “empty” and not worth considering. Senate’s action is coming two days after it rejected the president’s plan to borrow $29.690 billion to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018. It said the plan lacked detailed information.

It also came on the same day the Senate denounced presidential aides as being “incompetent”, saying they failed to present a comprehensive proposal on Mr. Buhari’s bid to borrow $30 billion. Mr. Buhari had on October 4 sent the MTEF and FSP, ahead of the 2017 budget, to the Senate and the House of Representatives for consideration. The Senate complained that the details of the fiscal proposals, which in Nigeria’s public finance architecture are the precursors to the annual budget, were not attached to the president’s letter requesting the consideration.